


Discovery

by GammaPrime



Series: TRANSFORMERS CHRONICLES [8]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Aliens, Archaeology, Discovery, The Ark, crashed ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:46:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28162644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GammaPrime/pseuds/GammaPrime
Summary: An archaeologist and his teenage brother investigate a strange monolith that had recently been discovered in Utah.
Series: TRANSFORMERS CHRONICLES [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060217
Kudos: 1
Collections: TRANSFORMERS CHRONICLES





	Discovery

Somewhere in the desert landscape of the Colorado valley, not far from the town of Moab, Utah, an odd, metallic structure had recently been partially unearthed by a group of construction workers intending to build a vacation condominium complex. The project was aborted after this discovery, after which a team of archaeologists moved set up camp to investigate it further.

One of the archaeologists, 22-year-old Ethan Jackson, relaxed on the couch of the team's motorhome while his younger brother, Emmett, listened to a radio talk show known as the InfoBunker, which was focused on conspiracy theories.

"Welcome back to the InfoBunker," greeted the show's host, the gravelly-voiced and temperamental Alan Stone. "We have Stan Witwicky joining us now from Moab, Utah to talk about the mysterious object that had recently been unearthed there. Good evening, Mr. Witwicky."

"Evening, Alan."

"Now that thing your crew dug up in the desert...You say it's made of metal?"

"Yeah," Witwicky replied, "and it's still mostly buried. What I did see, though, was an odd symbol embossed into it. It looked a bit like a face, but blocky...almost robotic."

"Now, given that this is a radio show, people can't see the symbol, but I received a photo of it. It's identical to the marking on the hood of the so-called Phantom Thunderbird."

"That's exactly what my dad said, but the rest of the family thinks he's just getting senile in his old age."

"I think most of my listeners would know by now that the Phantom Thunderbird isn't just some urban legend, nor is it actually haunted."

"Dad thinks that metal thing is linked to that 'ghost car.' He doesn't think it's of this Earth."

"Of course it isn't," Emmett interjected before taking a drink from a bottle of cola. 

"You say he actually encountered the Phantom Thunderbird himself, right?"

"Yep. It can speak, and is actually pretty friendly. He thinks it may have the ability to change its form."

Ethan chuckled. He was, like most people, skeptical about the Phantom Thunderbird being anything more than an urban legend, and cars that can change shape sounded more like something from the cartoons he watched as a kid than anything real. He yawned before lying down and falling asleep.

The next morning, digging resumed as soon as the sun had fully risen, gradually uncovering more of the mysterious metallic structure. Eventually, an opening would be revealed that looked as though it had been created by the impact of either a powerful weapon or even a meteor.

Emmett, who had decided to accompany his brother to the digsite, stared at the entrance that had just been created. "If this thing is what I think it is, someone blasted that hole in it," he stated, his voice full of the conviction that this thing was alien.

"It's possible I guess," Ethan replied. "It could also have been hit by a meteor."

"Maybe," Emmett said with a shrug. "Are you still not convinced that thing's an alien spaceship?"

"I'll believe that if we see little green men in there," Ethan answered as he activated the light strapped to his head and entered the opening with Emmett following closely behind.

"Whatever this is, it's been here for a long time," the young archaeologist observed. "These rock formations appear to have formed over other breaches in this structure."

"How long do you think it's been here?"

"This is gonna sound as out-there as one of your theories, Emmett, but the level of strata penetration suggests it's been here for millions of years. It could predate all human civilization. I hate to say it, but you could be onto something for once."

Emmett grinned triumphantly, having long hoped to convince his older brother that aliens had been visiting the Earth since ancient times. His jaw dropped, though, when his brother's headband light illuminated what looked, at first, like some sort of giant sarcophagus. Ethan would soon find himself equally dumbfounded when he tilted his head back, aiming the light further upward until it shone upon a blue and silver robotic face. He carefully placed a hand on the surface of this container, causing several lights to suddenly come on and a strange, disembodied voice to begin speaking in a language that, to the two brothers, sounded like gibberish.

"Bro, I think you activated some sort of security system. We should probably get out of here," Emmett suggested.

The disembodied voice spoke again. This time, it could be understood. "Analysis complete. Unidentified intruders pose no threat."

"Uhh...Who are you?" Ethan asked, looking around in an attempt to find the source of this voice that had suddenly begun speaking English.

"Designation: Teletraan 1," the voice replied.

"So...are you...a computer of some sort?" Ethan pressed, backing away as the large container in front of him began to open.

"I think it is, bro," Emmett answered, "and I think it's waking up its masters. Look!"

The large, robotic figure that had been contained within the sarcophagus-like structure had now stepped out and was looking around, causing the two humans to back away even further.

The robot, hearing the faint whimpering of the terrified boys, looked down at them. "Are you natives of this planet?" it asked, its voice masculine and commanding, but also surprisingly gentle.

"Y-Y-Yeah," Ethan stammered. "I'm...Ethan Jackson." He nervously pointed to his younger brother. "This is my brother, Emmett."

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," the large robot introduced. "You need not fear me, Ethan and Emmett. I will not harm you."

Soon, five more identical containers opened up, revealing five more robots.

"What about those guys?" Ethan inquired, referring to the other robots.

"You need not fear them either. They are among my closest friends."

"How long have we been in stasis?" asked a yellow and black robot with red accents.

"I'd guess millions of years," Ethan replied, scratching his head beneath the strap of his light.

"Then we can only hope that Megatron's been out just as long," grumbled a white robot with red accents vaguely resembling first-aid symbols. "These natives oughta consider themselves lucky they didn't wake him up."

"Megatron?" Emmett repeated, again pushing his bangs aside. "Is he the kind of alien robot who would vaporize us and smash up our cities, just like every evil robot on TV?"

"If he deems you to be an impediment to his objectives, then he will not hesitate to do you harm," Prime replied.

"He wouldn't even care if he stepped on you by accident," the white robot added, accentuating his statement by stomping his own foot.

"He better just stay in stasis while we round up the Heart o' Cybertron then. It'll make things a lot easier fer us," said a gruff-sounding red robot.

A white robot with red and green accents approached the two humans, eyes wide with fascination. "I've never seen life forms like this!" it stated, the fins on the sides of its head flashing as it spoke.

"That is my chief science officer, Wheeljack," Prime explained.

"He's not gonna experiment on us, is he?" Emmett nervously asked.

"Absolutely not!" Wheeljack emphatically replied. "I don't experiment on sentient beings without their consent. Who do you think I am? Shockwave?"

"What brought y'all here?" asked a white robot with blue highlights.

"We're archaeologists," Ethan explained. "Well, I am anyway. Emmett wanted to tag along because he wanted to see aliens."

"Got my wish, didn't I?"

"I guess so, Emmett."

"That is my lieutenant and communications officer, Jazz." Optimus then pointed to the white and red bot. "This is my medic, Ratchet."

Ratchet simply grunted, not too interested in striking up a conversation.

"What crawled up your tailpipe, doc-bot?" asked the yellow and black robot.

"I've got more important things on my mind than a meet-and-greet with a couple curious natives," Ratchet replied.

"Come on! The Decepticons are probably still in stasis."

"We haven't been getting that kind of luck, kid."

"That is my scout, Bumblebee. His optimism is refreshing at a time like this."

"I was the same way when I was a Guardian Corps cadet," the red robot sighed. "'Course that was millions o' stellar cycles ago."

"That is Ironhide, my weapons specialist."

"Weapons?" Ethan repeated, tensing up a little. "Does that mean you're in some sort of war with these Decepticon guys?"

"We are, Ethan," Optimus confirmed, his voice tinged with a bit of weariness. "We have been for far too long, and...we have been at a disadvantage from the start."

"Is that why you're here?"

"Yes, Emmett. The war had culminated in Megatron's attempt to seize the Heart of Cybertron, a sacred relic of our homeworld containing the raw power of our creator, Primus. In desperation, and under the advice of my mentor, we decided to send the Heart of Cybertron off-world."

"You still think Alpha Trion's the one who told you to do that, Optimus?" Ratchet incredulously inquired. "By now, Cybertron's probably a lifeless husk overrun with Vehicon drones."

Optimus hummed as he hung his head.

"What's wrong, Optimus?" Ethan asked, sensing his new friend's sorrow. "Is he right?"

"I hope he is not, but there is little room for hope at this time," Prime replied. "It would appear that my act of desperation has doomed Cybertron...and now may threaten this world."

"It's not like the entire Decepticon army's here, Prime," Bumblebee spoke up, hoping to improve his leader's mood.

"It's not like we can deal with the ones that are here the way we would on Cybertron either," Ratchet argued. "If these two are typical of the natives, we're gonna have to pull our punches."

"The grumpy old bot's kinda got a point," Emmett commented. "A bunch of 20-to-30-foot-tall robots duking it out is gonna cause a lot of damage, not to mention freak people out."

"You're gonna have to hide yourselves somehow...and fight that war in secret," Ethan added.

"Goin' incognito's the easy part," Jazz grinned. "Teletraan 1, launch the scanner."

"Unable to comply. Remote scanner is non-functional."

"What about the onboard scanners?" Wheeljack suggested.

"Range is limited to 100 klik radius," Teletraan replied.

"That should give us something to work with," the engineer replied.

"Understood."

The diggers outside stepped back as a large antenna emerged from the exposed part of the buried structure. This antenna slowly spun around, sweeping the area with a beam that passed through the human workers and their vehicles without causing any noticeable harm to either.

Back inside, a large projector descended from the ceiling and displayed a holographic image of a Hi-Way Express tractor-trailer. Optimus gave this image a once-over before emitting a harmless beam from his eyes that scanned over the image from front to back before deactivating. Prime's body then proceeded to twist, flip, and shift until assuming a form identical to the vehicle, aside from its coloration.

"Sweet!" Emmett exclaimed excitedly. "It's just like the Morphobots we had as kids!"

"Yeah, it is," Ethan nodded as the image changed to that of a hatchback coupe, which Bumblebee scanned in a similar fashion.

Ironhide was next, taking the form of an SUV. He was soon followed by Ratchet, who took the form of an ambulance. Wheeljack came next, taking the form of a stock car with Torturro's Pizza branding.

"That one's making me kinda hungry," Emmett said, licking his lips. "Nothin' beats a Torturro's Pizza!" Ethan chuckled.

Jazz was the last one to take an Earthly vehicle form, his resembling a customized luxury sports car that the older human immediately recognized. "You scanned Masta Renegade's custom Mercedes, huh, Jazz? You have pretty good taste."

"Masta Renegade?" Jazz echoed after reverting to his robot form. "Who's that?"

"He's probably one of my favorite hip-hop artists. I'll have to get my CD from the camper and play it for you."

"So he's some kinda entertainer?" the Autobot lieutenant deduced.

"Yeah, he is," Ethan confirmed.

"Gotta say...for some backwater planet, I think this place is gonna be cool," Jazz grinned.

While Ethan and Emmett continued to converse with the Autobots, a helicopter had arrived to hover over the site. "This is the place," the pilot announced. "That thing does seem to share design elements with that UFO that crashed in Nevada 35 years ago." He activated his radio.

"Cullen AFB, this is Agent Erhard. I've traced the mysterious signal back to its source. It was indeed the Moab Monolith."

"This is Silas Arkeville," came a voice on the other end of the connection. "Have there been any further signs of possible NBE activity?"

"Not yet, sir. It's too risky to investigate further. There are still civilians in the area."

"Understood," Arkeville replied. "Just keep monitoring the area from your current position. If anything non-human emerges from the structure, follow it."

"Yes, sir."

After the connection was closed, Arkeville turned toward the inactive body of a teal and white mech who was strapped to a lab table. "It would seem as though you're not alone, my friend," he smiled. "Fortunately, we will be ready for your friends, so long as Dr. Morales hasn't been too frivolous with her training of the Project Skybolt AI."


End file.
